Category Archive

A recent article on CNN, talked about how the food industry is starting to become the new land of technology. Technology has vastly improved the medical and financial field, but food is still reliant on plants and animals. This article talks about food that is made in lab test tubes. The food is generated by taking cells from certain plants …

National parks will now be using local and organic foods in their restaurants and cafeterias, according to an article by Boulder Weekly. There are new federal laws that encourage these parks to have sustainable sources for their foods. According to the article, “the rules apply to private companies seeking to operate snack bars and restaurants under concession from the federal …

Our project allows us to use Vail Commons as a site to look at Davidson’s commitment to sustainability. I was not sure where a campus like ours would fit in to sustainable practices, especially when looking at food because of the limited dining options that are available. What I have learned when starting to research is that Davidson is making …

In my Literature of the Environment course we discuss issues similar to those that we talk about in Food and Sustainability. One reoccurring issue that we discuss is the distance food travels to our plates, a factor that has influenced the growing popularity of “eating local.” Often times food must travel large distances in order to reach us, and the …

Baldwin et. al’s piece on life cycle assessment in restaurant food and food service represents an interesting perspective on environmental footprints in the food system. Both Nierenberg and Baldwin et. al. discuss issues of food production and even use some of the same statistics, such as the statistic that 70% of the antibiotics used in the United States are used …

“The Sustainable Kidnapping project promises to always return victims in better condition than when they were captured, for a kinder, gentler kidnapping experience.” The other day while watching random youtube videos (and being super productive) I stumbled upon this video. This is an episode in a series called “Thingstarters” by Above Average Productions, a series of parody kickstarter videos advertising various …

The culture shift that is encouraging companies to use more sustainable farming methods is not based on new ideology. Back in the time of Antiquity, the forms of farming that occurred would be considered extremely “sustainable” and “environmentally friendly” by today’s standards. Part of this is because in the past, farmers and horticulturalists did not have the kinds of technologies …

In recent years, there has been a noticeable decline in the bee population. This poses a great threat to the future of food production and biodiversity, as bees assist in the reproduction of plant life. Scientists now attribute one of the causes to neonicotinoids, a specific group of pesticides. Who makes the neonicotinoids? Syngenta, Bayer CropSciences and Dow Agrosciences. Who’s using them, and …

Recently, Yellowstone National Park reintroduced wolves into their park. The wolves have completely changed not just the food chain, but the entire ecosystem. This is a sign of a “trophic cascade,” as the video calls it. A trophic cascade is when a change at the top of the ecosystem causes a change at the very bottom. The wolves, at the …

Today, New York City is a leader in rooftop gardening. The joining of community gardeners and educators with for-profit companies allowed rooftop gardening to expand to a larger scale. Gotham Greens and Brooklyn Orange are two of the largest commercial farming operations based in NYC. Gotham Greens, which uses hydroponic technology, grows bok choy, basil, and oak leaf lettuce to …